UPDATE 1-US June oil demand drops 3 pct from year ago-API

* US oil demand down 2.6 percent in first half of 2012
* Gasoline demand down 2.5 pct in June, distillate down 0.7 pct

(Adds details from report, table)
WASHINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil demand dropped in June, bogged down by the
flagging U.S. economy, industry group American Petroleum Institute said on Friday.
Petroleum consumption in June declined 3 percent from a year ago to 18.691 million barrels
per day. Demand was down 2.6 percent for the first half of the year from the same period in
2011.
"A weakening economy requires less fuel, and this by most measures is a weakening economy,"
said API chief economist John Felmy. "The fall in demand in June is particularly notable and
consistent with other disappointing metrics in the economy, including falling retail sales and
contraction in the manufacturing sector."
Gasoline demand was down 2.5 percent in June at 8.821 million bpd. Consumption of the fuel
was down 1 percent for the first six months of the year.
API's oil demand figure for June is lower than the U.S. Energy Information Administration's
preliminary estimate of consumption at 19.125 million bpd for the month. The EIA issues its
revised June demand number at the end of August.
Demand for distillate fuel, which includes diesel and heating oil, fell a slight 0.7 percent
to 3.876 million bpd in June.
Jet fuel consumption climbed 0.7 percent to 1.555 million bpd for the month.
Total imports in June accounted for 58.5 percent of U.S. oil demand, down from 60.3 percent
a year earlier.

U.S. DELIVERIES, IMPORTS, PRODUCTION
(million bpd)

JUNE 2012 JUNE 2011 Yr Ago Pct JAN-JUN 2012 YTD Pct
Change Change
DELIVERIES
Gasoline 8.821 9.046 -2.5 8.648 -1.0
Kerosene/jet 1.555 1.545 0.7 1.401 -1.2
Distillate 3.876 3.903 -0.7 3.781 -1.7
Deliveries 18.691 19.277 -3.0 18.431 -2.6
Exports 3.070 2.607 17.8 3.061 14.2
Total 21.761 21.884 -0.6 21.492 -0.5

IMPORTS
Crude oil 9.103 9.247 -1.6 8.745 -1.3
Oil products 1.823 2.371 -23.1 1.808 -29.0
Total 10.926 11.619 -6.0 10.620 -6.9

PRODUCTION
Crude 6.197 5.598 10.7 6.162 10.7
Gasoline 9.184 9.286 -1.1 8.811 -1.5
Distillate 4.696 4.469 5.1 4.455 4.5
Kerosene/jet 1.598 1.568 1.9 1.464 2.4

(Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; editing by John Wallace)